Risk factors for prostate carcinoma in Taiwan: a case-control study in a Chinese population

Although prostate carcinoma remains a rare disease among Chinese men, its incidence is on the rise. The authors conducted a hospital-based case-control study to identify risk factors for prostate carcinoma in northern Taiwan.

Patients at a selected veterans hospital or 2 military hospitals who were newly diagnosed with prostate carcinoma between August 1995 and July 1996 were included as cases (n = 90). Controls (n = 180) were comprised noncancer patients who were treated in emergency rooms and departments other than those of urology and cardiology at the same hospitals; controls were matched to cases by age (+/-5 years) and admission date (+/-4 months). Subjects were interviewed in person to elicit information regarding sociodemographic characteristics, life-style, diet, height, and weight.

Cases and controls were similar in terms of age and the majority of sociodemographic characteristics. However, cases tended to have received more education and were less likely to have blue-collar jobs than controls. The consumption of pork was moderately higher for cases than for controls, although this difference was not statistically significant. Cases were more likely than controls to engage in exercise (odds ratio [OR] = 2.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18-3.96) and to have a body mass index > or = 24.75 kg/m2 at ages 40-45 years (OR = 2.00; 95%CI = 1.05-3.82). In addition, cases were less likely to cook vegetables with pork lard (OR = 0.47; 95%CI = 0.24-0.91).

The higher frequency of exercise and lower use of pork lard for cooking among cases reported in the current study suggest that cases tended to have relatively affluent life-styles compared with controls. Because less affluent families are likely to consume more vegetables than meat, these preliminary findings indicate that vegetable intake appears to have a protective effect.